Forced at home by the Coronavirus lockdown, many of us also dedicated themselves to home tidying, finding, abandoned at the bottom of the drawers, small appliances no longer used. Blenders, remote controls, joysticks, chargers, but also light bulbs, electric cables and so on. All these small wastes, which are part of the large WEEE family (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment), must be disposed of in the most correct way, not only for greater protection of the environment but also because, if properly treated, they are recyclable up to over 95% of their weight.

WasteMob, born in 2018 as a collection initiative of small waste abandoned along the banks of the Po and open to students, university staff and all citizens, this year due to the limits imposed by the Coronavirus emergency, has organized a photo contest on Instagram. The contest, called # MadeinCasa2020, foresees that from 18 to 27 May the participants (not only students and university staff but also Piedmontese citizens) publish their own images of recycling examples on their Instagram profile (i.e.

The mandatory use of the masks, which is essential to correctly face Phase 2, risks causing, as we have already highlighted on more than one occasion, a serious environmental emergency. In fact, according to estimates by the Polytechnic of Turin, the monthly need for masks in Italy could be one billion per month, largely disposable.

In a short interview Agata Fortunato, an official of the Metropolitan City of Turin, takes stock of the trend of waste production in the territory in this period of health emergency. First of all, Fortunato points out, it is interesting to note how waste in March has decreased in a consistent way, reaching an overall figure of -11.5% compared to March 2019, numbers that had not been recorded even after the crisis of 2008-2009.

Since 1996, the Waste Observatory of the Metropolitan City of Turin has managed a large database on urban waste. The data, collected monthly and processed in tables and graphs, are a fundamental tool for monitoring and supporting the implementation of territorial planning in the field of waste. After a period of forced stop, linked to changes in the internal organization, the work of the Observatory resumes at full speed.

The Waste collection centers located in the Piedmont area are currently available, as well as for the disposal of mowing and pruning of private citizens, also to accommodate waste coming from companies (like paper, wood and plastic packaging).

The bleak images of the empty shelves in supermarkets, seen at the start of the Covid-19 emergency, are among those that will be remembered for a long time, together with other much more dramatic ones. The first worrying news on the seriousness and spread of the contagion in fact also had the effect of inducing people to make stocks, with the consequent "looting" of supermarkets and the disappearance of consumer goods, such as flour.

The Coronavirus pandemic quarantine has changed many habits of our daily life and among these, in the first place, also those linked to our diet and shopping. Many have written about these changes, highlighting among the most interesting aspects those most closely related to the environmental emergencies.

A famous photo taken by Apollo 8 on Christmas Eve in 1968 made the fragility of our planet evident to everyone, underlining how the Earth was truly something special and unique in the solar system. Two years later in the United States, following the great uproar caused by an environmental disaster that occurred in California, Earth Day came to life which, in that first edition, mobilized 20 million American citizens.

Due to the prolongation of the restrictions caused by the pandemic Covid 19, the Region has established that in order to meet the needs of those who have mowing and pruning to be disposed of in this period, the Waste collection centers located in the territory can be reopened.